WINDSOR TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — There was another false missile alert Tuesday, this time in Japan.
It came from national broadcaster NHK, not the government. NHK issued an on-air apology after issuing a false alert incorrectly claiming that North Korea had launched a ballistic missile.
Last week, an alert falsely warning of an inbound ballistic missile was accidentally sent in Hawaii, causing many there to panic.
Michigan has a system that can send alerts for large-scale emergencies. So could a false alarm happen here?
“When you say ‘could it happen,’ anything is possible,” Michigan State Police Capt. Chris Kelenske, the deputy state director of Emergency Management and Homeland Security, said. “Do we have things in place to ensure that that doesn’t happen? Yes.”
On Tuesday, Kelenske granted 24 Hour News 8 access to the state emergency operations center at MSP headquarters southwest of Lansing.
He said if Michigan got word of a threat from national security, state officials would gather at the center. Only three people could authorize a public alert: the governor, the lieutenant governor or the director of MSP.
“If we are going push a message out, it has been fully vetted by the appropriate officials,” Kelenske said.
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